MAGMA FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT
MINUTES OF THE
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014 MEETING
The meeting was called to order at 4:07 p.m. at the Florence Unified School District -
Anthem K-8 Band Room, 2700 N. Anthem Way, Florence, Arizona. The meeting was properly posted within the boundaries of the District and a phone number of 1-800-920-7487 was provided for individuals residing within and without the District to appear telephonically for the meeting. The first portion of this Meeting was Public Meeting in which Kent Pace gave an overview of the status of the Magma Flood Control District and the current Dam Rehabilitation project. This discussion lasted from 4:07 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. A copy of the matters that were discussed during the Public Presentation are attached as Exhibit “A” to these Minutes.
The regular Meeting was called to order by President Vinson Dobson at 4:47 p.m.
Appearing telephonically were President Dobson and Director Ty LeSueur. Present at the
Meeting were Kent Pace (General Manager), Larry Pfeiffer (Assistant Secretary to the Board), and Stephen Cooper (District Counsel). The following members of the public were present,
Mark Cowlings, Ruth Harrison, Ray Quintana, Loretta Quintana, Carolyn Gerber, Karen
Shoppell and Bob Manning.
General Manager Pace gave a brief update of the status of District business which had been previously discussed during the Public portion of the Meeting. General Manager Pace noted:

FNF Construction contends it is one hundred (100%) percent complete with the Dam improvements.


Federal funding for the project stands at one-hundred (100%) percent reimbursement, with no outstanding claims for reimbursement.

The lower Magma channel plans are approximately ninety (90%) percent complete; and the draft environmental assessment has been submitted to the Federal government
(NRCS). It is believed that the plans will be completed and MFCD will be able to take bids for the lower channel improvements in July of 2014.

The design plans for the removal and replacement of central filter material are approximately ninety (90%) percent complete.
The next item of business was consideration of the approval of the Minutes of the
Regular and Executive Board Minutes of December 3, 2013. A motion was made by Ty
LeSueur to approve the Minutes and President Dobson seconded the motion thereafter, the
Minutes were approved.
The next item of business was General Manager reports. There were no other reports.
The next item of business was other business which came before the Board. There was no items of other business.
The next item was the calling for an Executive Session for legal matters, a motion was made by Ty LeSueur to enter into Executive Session and President Dobson seconded the motion thereafter it was carried in the Executive Session that lasted from 4:50 p.m. to 5:35 p.m.
The next item of business was adjournment, the meeting was adjourned at 5:35 p.m.
RESPECTULLY SUBMITTED this _____ day of March, 2014.
______________________________________
STEPHEN R. COOPER, Attorney for
MAGMA FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT

EXHIBIT A
(ATTACHED)

P.O. Box 15005 ▪ Casa Grande, AZ 85230-5005 ▪ www.azmfcd.org
March 4, 2014
Re: Update to Magma Flood Control District Members
Dear Property Owner:
According to public records, if you own land within the boundaries of the Magma Flood Control District (the
“MFCD” or the “District”)—see a map showing the District boundaries attached—your property receives flood protection services from the District. The purposes of this letter are (1) to provide you with background information relating to the existence of the District, and (2) to provide you with an update on the issues facing the District and the efforts being made to resolve the issues.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The MFCD is a flood protection district created and governed pursuant to state law which was created in the early
1960’s by 13 landowners which joined together to create flood control infrastructure which would protect approximately 23,000 acres of agricultural lands. This resulted in construction of the Magma Flood Retarding
Structure (the “Dam”)—a 5½ mile long dam built North of Arizona Farms Road about 1.5 miles West of Highway
79, as shown on the enclosed map. The Dam retards the run off flow of a watershed area of 78 sq. miles within the mountainous area to the east. Over time, the Dam began to experience two (2) main problems: First by the 1970’s the influx of housing downstream of the Dam resulted in the Dam being reclassified by safety regulators as a High
Hazard Dam (a Dam which protects a significant population and improvements). Because the Dam was originally built as a Class B Agricultural Dam, significant improvements were necessary to bring the Dam in compliance with the design safety requirements associated with protecting the increased population and improvements. Second, as the Dam aged, the earthen embankment (of which the structure is comprised) began to develop cracks throughout the 5½ miles of its length. The need to address these issues first occurred in the mid 70’s. Limited repairs were done over the years but unfortunately the repairs were far from those needed to comply with the safety requirements regulatory agencies were requiring. Currently the Arizona Department of Water Resources, Dam Safety division has classified the Dam as “Unsafe, non-emergency”. Once the Rehabilitation is complete, the “Unsafe” classification will be removed.
In order to bring the Dam up to modern standards which have elapsed over the fifty (50) year period, and to protect approximately 9,000 residents, engineering firms were consulted and the original cost estimate to rehabilitate the
Dam was approximately $47,000,000.00 dollars. The District was not satisfied with this cost proposal and solicited experts on Dam repair to address the safety issues it faced. Ultimately the approved rehabilitation plan for the Dam included engineering and construction costs of $11,500,000.00 dollars. Thankfully, the District was able to partner with the United States Department of Agriculture—Natural Resources Conservation Service (“NRCS”), a federal agency with jurisdiction over rehabilitation of this type of dam. Sixty-five (65%) percent of the repair to the Dam would be paid by the federal government (NRCS) and the District would be responsible for the remaining thirty-five
(35%) percent.
As a result of entering into the agreement with NRCS to repair the Dam, property taxes had to increase to meet the
District’s portion of the funding. From 2008 to 2011, District property taxes averaged approximately 3%. It was initially envisioned that the property taxes would begin to be reduced in tax year 2012 once construction of the repairs were completed. Unfortunately, additional problems were discovered during the Dam repair. Nonetheless, the 2012 taxes for the District dropped sixty-five (65%) percent.
Since reducing taxes in 2012, two issues have arisen as priorities for the District:
1) Testing results completed on the 1995 placement of central filter, in what is arguably the deepest and most critical section of the Dam, determined the material placed was far from the quality of material being used in the current rehabilitation. As a result of the Board’s concern with the test results and the related implications, a decision was made to remove the existing central filter and replace it with material meeting the current project specifications in addition to installing a geotextile fabric (as was done through-out the remaining 4.5 miles of the Dam during the current rehabilitation project). The end result will be that the

entire 5.5 mile Dam will be uniformly repaired to today’s engineering standards and is designed to have a
100 year useful life if properly maintained.
2) The NRCS is considering (for a limited time) to fund 65% of the repairs of certain portions of the Magma
Channel which is comprised of three (3) sections (the Upper, Middle, and Lower). The Magma Channel essentially delivers the flood water impounded behind the Dam (as well as other flood water from within the District) to the Gila River. Much of the Magma Channel system is not built to today’s engineering standards and is in need of improvement and repair.
Without all the details, some District members may be tempted to argue that even funding 35% of the repairs of the
District’s flood control infrastructure is too great an individual cost. However, it is important to understand that significant monetary liability and risk would exist for the District (and its members) if the flood control structures were somehow allowed by Dam Safety Regulators to remain in an unsafe condition. Ultimately, if disaster occurred, all members of the District would bear not only the life safety issues, but also the monetary cost. There are multiple economic calculations that indicate repair of the flood control infrastructure is a benefit to all District members, not the least of which is considering just one of the implications of not making the needed repairs to the
Dam. If the Dam were not repaired, Dam Safety regulators would require that the Dam be breached. In many instances this would subject the District residents to periodic (if not regular) flooding. The District investigated the cost of obtaining flood insurance and learned for a home with an assessed valuation of approximately $100,000 that the estimated annual cost would be approximately $600.00 to $800.00 dollars per year and this expense would be essentially in perpetuity. Due to the District entering into the cost splitting program with NRCS, the real property taxes have been kept at or below approximately $300.00 dollars per year (for an average home valued at
$100,000.00 dollars). Once the Dam and related District infrastructure is repaired it is anticipated that the District’s property tax rates will significantly reduce, because at that point the District’s expenses will mainly be maintenance related and should be approximately $150,000.00 dollars a year. It is anticipated, that the property tax rates may have to remain at their current rates for an additional two (2) years to complete these priorities.
DISTRICT STATUS UPDATE
For the past several years, the District’s Board has been working diligently to evaluate the scope and cost of the repairs needed for ADWR to classify the Dam as a “safe” structure. All-in-all, the past few years have been productive ones for the District in terms of being able to (1) identify the needed repairs to the Dam, (2) complete the design and obtain the necessary construction permits, (3) securing federal funding for 65% of the needed repairs, and (4) complete a substantial portion of the construction repairs to the Dam. At this point, we anticipate that all repairs to the Dam will be completed during 2015.
Additionally the District has taken the following actions as effective interim risk mitigation measures until the Dam can be fully rehabilitated:

Arranged for hydrologic monitoring instrumentation to be installed within the watershed and at the Dam.
 Arranged for the National Weather Service to provide the District’s Emergency Action Plan Coordinator
(EAP Coordinator) with immediate notice of flood warnings and/or possible large storms.
With these tools, the District’s EAP Coordinator is able to monitor the level of the flood pool rising behind the Dam during any given storm event. Should the EAP Coordinator forecast that it is probable that unsafe flood pool levels to be reached, Dam Safety Engineers are dispatched to the Dam to monitor its performance and to coordinate with local emergency responders (if needed).
The District updates and reviews its Emergency Action Plan regularly –thereby ensuring that the plan is wellunderstood by the EAP Coordinator and by local emergency responders. These parties become familiar with the specific procedures and defensive actions that when implemented can be readily applied to prevent or minimize injury and/or property damage due to an emergency situation at the dam.
These actions by the District have resulted not only in greater safety to District members at present, but also will ultimately result in greater flood protection service to all properties within the District once the needed repairs are complete. Please review the District’s website for further progress reports (see www.azmfcd.org
).

We appreciate your understanding and support. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kent Pace, General Manager
Magma Flood Control District kent@azmfcd.org